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What is 'Citizen Science'?
The term 'Citizen Science' describes the efforts of volunteers
who monitor the status of living organisms or collect baseline information
on environmental non-biotic variables (e.g. weather). The data collected
through citizen science programs can be incorporated into management
and conservation plans, and influence local, provincial and federal
policy development.
What are some of the challenges
facing Citizen Science in Canada?
There are hundreds of citizen science programs in Canada, from
local community-run initiatives to province-wide monitoring to national
programs. There are many challenges currently facing citizen science
and its effectiveness in evaluating our environment in Canada:
- Lack of linkages between programs
- Lack of knowledge transfer
- Limited use of ecosystem health indicators
- Lack of standardized protocols for data collection
- Insufficient promotion of programs
- There are also considerable gaps in monitoring
habitat and some species, which prevents more complete assessments
of various ecosystems found in Canada.
| The Citizen Science Network
WHC’s Citizen Science Project
began in 2002 with the goal of building community capacity
to undertake environmental monitoring. In 2005, the Citizen
Science Project amalgamated with The Canadian Community Monitoring
Network, Environment Canada and Ecological Monitoring and
Assessment Network’s (EMAN) pilot project developed
to better understand the issues related to community based
monitoring across Canada. The joint initiative is aimed at
facilitating data sharing among community monitoring organizations,
providing tools and resources to support long-term sustainability
of community monitoring and assist community groups in increasing
the relevance of their monitoring by linking their activities
to decision making.
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Our website, www.citizenscience.ca,
is envisioned to be the on-line resource for those (individuals
and communities) interested in monitoring. It will provide the necessary
tools to take communities step-by-step through the process of community-based
monitoring - from setting goals; deciding what to monitor; how to
monitor; where to access training and resources; how to manage,
analyse and share data; to next steps such as affecting local policy.
For more information on the Citizen Science Project, visit our website
or contact Lynn
McIntyre.
Click
here to see the accomplishments in the Citizen Science Project
Annual Report for 2004-2005.
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